Inspiration struck after trying Wolf & Bear’s “bunny balls,” which are essentially a date truffle with tahini and cacao powder.

Because the flavors weren’t as pronounced as I’d like, I decided to deconstruct them. I kept the dates whole, stuffed each one with as much tahini as possible (almost 1 teaspoon each!), and then dunked them in my Easy Vegan Chocolate, which is naturally sweetened to taste and absolutely perfect for these tahini bombs.

I just like saying tahini bombs. Can you tell?

If you’re intimidated by making chocolate, don’t be. If I can do it, you can do it.

Not to worry if you can’t procure cocoa butter though – I include a workaround in the notes.

These dates require just 8 ingredients and about 30 minutes to make. They’re ready to enjoy right away, or can be frozen or refrigerated to keep fresh up to 1 month. In other words, a little effort for a lot of reward.

DATES

Instructions

Add 2 inches of water to a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling simmer over medium-high heat. Then reduce heat to medium and set a medium glass or ceramic mixing bowl on top, making sure it's not touching the water (this creates a "double boiler").

Once melted, carefully remove bowl from heat (turn off stove top) and add the maple syrup and cacao or cocoa powder. Use a whisk or wooden spoon to mix until fluid and thoroughly combined.

Taste and adjust flavor as needed. I added about 2 Tablespoons maple syrup total (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size), but it’s completely up to how sweet you prefer your chocolate.

Because the chocolate is quite thin at this point, set in the refrigerator to chill and slightly thicken and make dipping the dates easier - about 15-20 minutes total, removing to stir/whisk occasionally. You'll know it's ready when it's more like pourable hot fudge than melted coconut oil.

Next, carefully remove pits from dates and be careful to keep one side of the date intact, as opposed to splitting it into two separate pieces. You're trying to create a small crevice in the date (see photo) so it's easy to add/contain the tahini. Once pitted, fill with tahini - about 1/2 - 1 tsp depending on size of date.

Add dates to a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop in freezer to chill while chocolate thickens.

Once chocolate has thickened (if it got too thick, briefly microwave or set back over the double boiler to thin), add one date at a time and flip with a slotted spoon or fork to fully coat, then tap off any excess chocolate. Set back on the parchment baking sheet and immediately sprinkle with a little sea salt and either sesame seeds or coconut. Repeat until all dates are coated.

Enjoy immediately. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 1 week or the freezer for 1 month. Let come to room temperature before enjoying for best flavor/texture.

Notes

*If you don’t have cocoa butter, simply sub all of the ingredients for 1 1/4 cup (150 g) chopped dark vegan chocolate + 1 Tbsp (15 g) coconut oil (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size) and melt in the microwave in 30 second increments or over a double boiler on the stovetop. No need to refrigerate - it will already be thick enough for dipping as is.*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated using all of the tahini and chocolate.

I ate way too many! So delicious!
I melted carob chips instead of making chocolate. Topped with sea salt and coconut and loved!
I also made some with pecans that I mashed up in food processor and they were declicious as well. Thank you for the recipe!

Ok I went and made these again and they are so good. My first time to use cocoa butter cooking and Tyhini both are delicious so add them together and what do you get? Yummy dates! Which reminds me of another recipe by Dana which is called
Tyhini stuffed zucchini another wonderful recipe.

This recipe is amazing and I adore this web page. Thank you so much, I actually like your entries rather than skipping them and I am so delighted with the creativity and love that you put in. I also am just so grateful you decided to share tahini in a dessert as I am completely obsessed with it alone. All the best love.

Made these yesterday as dessert for my upcoming birthday dinner. Love that they can be made a few days in advance!
As suggested by another commenter, I added sesame seeds to the tahini for extra crunch. I also added the salt directly to the filling for better distribution, melted dairy-free dark chocolate instead of making it from scratch & worked with dates that came already pitted. Super easy, looking fancy & sooooooo yummy – thanks, Dana!

Yesssss! Im obsessed with tahini so I absolutely loved these! I also made some with peanut butter for some of my family who are not a fan of the bitterness of tahini, but for me, it works so well with the sweetness of the dates and chocolate!

Thank you for your work on this recipe! My son and I made these for his gardening group snack. I’m stuffed after several samples to make sure they would be good. We can’t wait to make these beauties again for holiday gifts to the neighbors. Sharing the love! I substituted coconut butter mixed with shredded unsweetened coconut for the filling. It gave them a nice crunchiness at the center.

Why did I wait so long to make these?! OMG, new favorite dessert! I cheated and melted dark chocolate instead of making my own, so I can only image how good these taste when you make your own chocolate coating. YUM!!

I made these tonight and they were wonderful! I used dark chocolate in a bag I got from my local grocery store and;melted that over a double boiler. I used toasted sesame seeds and sea salt. This is a wonderful recipie. My weekend candy!

I just made these, mixing almond butter in with my tahini (because yum) and they are delicious! I didn’t think I was a huge date fan, but had some left over from another recipe, and they’re my new favorite thing. I had some chocolate left over so I made tahini-almond butter cups in a mini muffin tin, too. I think I’ll have to buy my cocoa butter in bulk now. ;-)

These are ridiculous! They didn’t sound good to me, but I had an excess of Medjool dates (i know, lucky, right?) and a holiday party coming up, so I did a test run. I made 5 and asked for testers. Once the chocolate was dry, I took a bite and knew I needed no more testers! Amazing!
I made about 30 for the party and brought none home!
Really, really yummy!
I used Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chips (they are dairy free) and coconut oil for the chocolate-your recipe from another dessert-I love how easy it is and how good the chocolate is!
Thanks again for another amazing, super easy, staple recipe!

Thanks so much Dana!
I made them and they came out soooo amazing. I lucked out to find this place in Brooklyn that has everything chocolate organic and fair trade and at really great prices. They were so great that I want to give them a shout out. They deliver too…
Thanks again. These are really fantastic
Ayelet

These have been on my list for a while. Currently regretting making them only because they are SO good – can’t stop eating them! Filling the dates was a little tedious, but they are so worth it. Thanks for another great recipe, Dana!

I am currently living in Iraq and dated are CHEAP so I wanted to find a good recipe for them. This was it! It was delicious! The tahini balanced the sweetness of the date and I added a few flakes of sea salt at the end that really made the dark chocolate taste perfect. Great recipe.

I have to say I have made these Date Bombs 3 times in 10 days. Twice for dessert when friends came for dinner and once just for the fam!!!! These are really the BOMBBB!! I can’t tell you how delicious these are. I did cheat and melted Dove Dark chocolate for the chocolate coating cuz I was in a hurry, but these are a real favorite and will be at my house frequently! Thanks Dana for a great blog. New comer but can’t get enough of your recipes!

A really common traditional dish in the Middle East are dates stuffed with halva (a dense, crumbly dessert made of sesame flour, honey and sometimes pistachios, chocolate, or other flavorings). I have a feeling you’d really love it.

These would be great for a shower I’m hosting. So, where do I find cocoa butter…just the local grocery? And where would it be located in the store? And desiccated coconut…what’s that? I can just buy a jar of raw tahini butter, right? This is unchartered territory for me, so I appreciate your help.